Dare To Be An Avenger
by TheFallibleScholar
Summary: The story of Portia Dare, a brilliant young neuroscientist work for Stark Industries who finds herself recruited into the Avengers after a shocking discovery about her past is made.


Portia tried her best not to fidget too much as she waited. It was of the utmost importance to her that she maintain a cool exterior no matter the battle of nerves roaring inside of her. It was so damn hard though, every few seconds she would get the feeling of a bug skittering over her skin, or a quick electric shock of an itch would strike. How long were they going to make her wait? It had to have already been at least half an hour, she stole a quick glance at the clock above the receptionist's desk, the motion pulled some of her long raven colored locks out of the updo her mother had helped with that morning. It had only been five minutes and now she debated if the wait would be long enough for her to have time to sneak into the bathroom and fix her hair.

It was not very often that the CEO of Stark Industries met with an applicant and Portia could not be more nervous about meeting the industrious Pepper Pots. Although, she reminded herself proudly there weren't very many 25-year-old with a pair of PhDs and a masters degree covering neuroscience and biochemistry. She had been working towards this goal since was six years old and her gifted program had taken them on a tour of Stark Industries' New York research and development office. Her younger self marveled at the displays of crops that required less water and aerosol vaccines that could innoculate twenty people against half a dozen diseases and infections. Her mother had encouraged her to apply to different companies, maybe even at times tried to sway her away from Stark Industries but after the emergence of Iron Man, and then the incident in New York she knew there was no other place she wanted to be.

"Excuse me miss?" A dark-haired, slightly heavy man in a suit asked.

"Yes?"

"You need to be wearing your visitor badge." Portia blanched, embarrassed she reached into the leather bag sitting next to her and ended up dropping it onto the floor, her badge slid across the marble floor and ended up in between two black leather pumps. Portia fell onto her knees and reached for it.

"I'm so sorry about that." She stammered, face growing hot as she blushed deeply. Her hair was now completely free and she saw an errant bobby pin hanging uselessly in one of her curls, she snatched it out of her hair and then stood up. "I should have put it on."

She met face to face with a lovely blonde woman who's warm smile put her almost completely at ease. The woman reached down, picked up the badge and handed it back to Portia.

"No don't worry about it. Happy here is just a little overprotective of me."

"Miss Pots after everything that has happened mister Stark and I are in agreement that security is more important…"

"That will be all for now Happy, thank you." She interrupted.

Portia stood there staring and not saying anything for a moment. She was standing in front of THE Pepper Pots, right-hand man (or woman) to Tony Stark, and there next to her was his former bodyguard.

"Miss Pots it is such a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise Miss Dare, I have heard nothing but good things about you. I don't think we have ever received an application that came with quite so many letters of recommendation."

"I'm so sorry if it was too many, this is, it's just...This place, it's my dream my work here."

"I think it's refreshing to meet someone with so much passion and flair for overcompensation. Really it reminds me so much of Tony, only all of his recommendations would come from himself." Pepper laughed and led Portia into her office. "Between your that and your obvious ability to know the most out of anybody in the room you already remind me a lot of Tony."

"My friends used to tell me that as well. The funniest thing is my mother, she actually knew him back when they were in college. They were friends right up until his parent's accident."

"Really? How fascinating, what is your mother's name?'

"Kathy Dare."


End file.
